🗞 What's New: Someone copied my product

Have you ever had someone copy or clone your product?

• As indie hackers and creators, competition is par for the course. But what about copycats? Founders weigh in below on how to handle the fakes.
• New to Twitter, or just looking to grow? These tips, including making an effort to grow from the outside in the beginning, should get you well on your way!
• Founder Alexis Grant got 1,000 email subscribers before launching her content site, They Got Acquired. Here are her 4 steps for attracting loyal subscribers. Hint: Ask for ideas, not for signups.

Want to share something with over 95,000 indie hackers? Submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter. —Channing

😼 How to Handle Copycats

by Armando Flesler

At the beginning of 2021, I launched Reclist, a platform that lets people share their recommendations. This can be favorite books, podcasts, music, etc.

I launched on Indie Hackers and Hacker News in March 2021, but a couple of days ago, I came across a very similar project called Reclists. The domain was created in August 2021.

The name, logo, idea, and landing page all look like they are copies of my site. What should I do?

Channel the frustration

Paul Ruane thinks that this could be a great chance to channel the frustration and create something amazing:

I cannot imagine the rage that you must be feeling! My recommendation would be to channel that frustration and anger into building the best product you can, growing revenue, and adding customers. Do you have any trademarks or copyright information that was stolen? That could be reported.

Perhaps there are other methods to earn press or media that helps boost your legitimacy and SEO credibility. Maybe there are some accelerators or founder groups that can also help lend legitimacy?

I'd reach out to them to see if they would be open to discussing an acquisition. Gather as much information as you can in the process.

Hold on to your vision

Vu Tran says that someone cloning your product means that you built a good thing:

The fact that someone else has come to compete means that your market definitely has potential. Also, your product is good enough for someone to clone, and that is supreme validation.

At this point, focus on your stuff! Someone may have cloned your solution, but they likely don't understand the full scope of the problem that you are trying to solve. They cloned your current product, not your vision!

Keep doing what you are doing, visit them weekly (just like you would keep watch on your other competitors), learn from them, and potentially shut them down by acquiring their users. Suing them would only waste your time and cause you to lose opportunities to grow.

Accept it

Darko says that copies and clones are to be expected in indie hacking life:

Welcome to the club! I once read that you should take someone copying you as a compliment. Plus, it's a nice additional data point; you could monitor what works for them, then copy them in terms of promotion and marketing.

I know it sucks when you see it for the first time. This has happened with my product, ZeroToUsers, a couple of times, so I've just gotten used to it.

Focus on your product and accept this situation as a way of life. There are positive things that can come out of it!

Evolution counts

Darren Lopez says that, while there may be similarities now, both products will evolve along their own paths:

Facing competition is the norm if you are a founder or creator. You have to get used to this kind of thing happening often, because every product in your life will definitely have another similar product.

My approach is to take a long-term view. The similarities may be very obvious now, since both products are in their first year. But in the next couple of years, how your product will evolve will be different than how theirs does. Copycats have no future because they will never be able to see the ideas in your head. They will always be behind you, and you will feel proud when you look back one day and see that they copied you again.

At the same time, you have to be vigilant. If a plagiarist initiates a price war, or other business strategy that can destroy you, you must respond immediately. You can either compete head-on and use the same method to quickly align, or differentiate and avoid the battle.

Has anyone ever copied or cloned your product? How did you handle it?

Discuss this story.

📰 In the News

from the Volv newsletter by Priyanka Vazirani

🛍 Instagram will let shoppers place orders and track packages in DMs.

💤 Japan has a new solution for overwork: Sleep in a "standing pod."

🧳 Airfare dropped by 1.8% last month, but mishandled luggage is up 135% YoY.

☹️ TikTok and Instagram are wreaking havoc on our happiness and finances.

👋 Millions are regretting having quit their jobs during the Great Resignation.

Check out Volv for more 9-second news digests.

📱 Twitter Tips for Beginners

by Matt Visiwig

This month, I've decided to focus on my Twitter efforts. I don't know for sure, but I've noticed that sales that seem to loosely correlate with my Twitter activity.

What are your tips and tricks for getting the most out of Twitter?

It's all about the topic

Florian Mielke took Twitter very seriously for about three months, and managed to grow from 90 to 330 followers:

Here is my advice:

• Choose a topic that you can actually speak about.
• Find the community around that topic, and follow those people.
• Engage with the people you follow by giving valuable answers to their tweets.
• Show up regularly and consistently.
• Write single tweets (not threads) about the topic.

Grow from the outside

Clsmooth says that you should grow from outside Twitter in the beginning:

You should absolutely have engaging content aimed at providing value, but it is very difficult to be seen organically on the Twitter platform.

My tip? Compile a list of active forums in your niche that allow Twitter embeds, and post them there. Try to focus on value-packed threads that require clicking back to Twitter to see the rest of them.

That extra step of clicking through to your profile, and subsequently satisfying people's curiosity, can be a game changer in earning you those sweet follows.

Twitter as microblogging

San0198 notes that Twitter is the social media platform that operates most closely to real-time:

Twitter is a platform for microblogging. Tweets that are short and to the point increase the readability and engagement of your messages. To make the most of Twitter, you can still submit pictures, videos, polls, and discussions.

Twitter is one platform where you still stand a chance of going viral and greatly expanding your audience.

Two elements

Anstin Roy says that, to build an audience, you need to do two important things:

1. Engage with others:

• Make a list of people that you want to be noticed by and engage with. Reply to their tweets with meaningful responses, and try to make friends.
• Make real connections so that these people engage with your content. This tells the Twitter algorithm that your content is interesting.
• Allot a certain time limit to engage with your chosen accounts. For example, 15 minutes a day to engage with huge accounts, 15 minutes to engage with accounts your size, and 10 minutes to DM someone new every day.

2. Be consistent:

• Be consistent on Twitter every day. It's difficult at first, but it's necessary.
• Tweet at least three times a day. You can batch create tweets for a whole week or month. This takes care of the daily tweets, and you can use one of the many scheduling tools out there to help with this.
• Write a great thread at least once a week. You can write about your story, your subject of expertise, your build in public journey, etc.

Another thing that you can do is to write the tweets and direct external traffic to them by posting them in forums or groups.

This should get the ball rolling for you!

A guidebook

Arvid Kahl recently created 50 daily videos with his best Twitter tips from growing an audience of 70K+ in two years:

I believe that the most important paradigm on Twitter is favoring direct and personal engagement over trying to go viral. Building relationships by contributing meaningfully to conversations should be the goal of every single interaction on that platform.

Every day for the last 50 days, I made a short video explaining one key concept. These range from fundamentals to specific frameworks and tools.

Check them out here!

What are your top tips for Twitter growth? Share in the comments below!

Discuss this story.

👥 10M Users, Zero Funding

by Aytekin Tank

Staying healthy and happy:

Believe in something bigger than today.

Motivation is about meaning. When you believe in something, you have the drive to pursue that goal. French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote:

Discuss this story.

📧 Alexis Grant Got 1K Email Subscribers Before Launch

by Alexis Grant

Hi founders! I'm Alexis Grant, and for the launch of my newest content site, They Got Acquired, we checked all of the obvious boxes.

We had plenty of content, a professional design that helped people take us seriously, and an About Page that shared who we are and what we stand for. But the most important thing that we had in place at launch was something you couldn't see: Our email list.

We managed to gather 1K emails from people who were interested before we launched, and that's what made the launch successful. Read on for more!

How did we do it?

They Got Acquired provides guidance for founders on how to sell a business. Since we're bootstrapped, we experimented with lots of scrappy approaches. Here's what we found most effective:

1. Set up a landing page as early as possible: Our landing page, including an email signup form, went live in March 2021. This was months before I started working on the project in a meaningful way; I went all-in on the company in September 2021, and we launched in February 2022.

It was a simple page built with Carrd, and was compelling enough to garner signups.

Here's what we included:

• What we’re building, and what's in it for you.
• Who we are. I linked to my own website for credibility.
• When we planned to launch.

Here's what it looked like:

Even if you haven’t started building the product, set up your landing page! That gives you the longest possible lead time to collect emails before launch.

2. Share the idea on Kernal: Before we even had a way to collect emails, I shared the idea for the site on Kernal, a free community that helps you get feedback on startup ideas. Because the idea got a few dozen upvotes, the Kernal team promoted it on the website and in their newsletter, which encouraged other users to follow our updates.

Once I created the landing page, I followed up with Kernal users who were following the idea to let them know that there was an option to sign up for the email list. That brought over a small, loyal group of people who wanted what we were building. We also connected with one of our best writers there!

3. Ask for ideas, not for signups: I dropped into lots of Facebook, Slack, and Discord groups that I had already been participating in to spread the word. I also sent personalized emails to my network letting them know about my new company. Rather than asking people to sign up for our email list, which felt too promotional, I asked for information.

Did anyone know of companies that had sold in the last few years for $100K-$50M that we should cover? I let people know that our stories would celebrate these sales, which incentivized them to share.

Using this tactic, we got some great leads on companies to cover. But the biggest benefit was getting on people's radar in a non-pushy way. Many wanted to read these stories too, so they joined our email list.

4. Send emails during pre-launch: We didn't wait until launch to email our growing list of subscribers. We let them know what we were building, what they could expect to see at launch, and how they could help. This kept us top-of-mind in the months leading up to launch, and some subscribers spread the word.

Our pre-launch emails also delivered an unexpected benefit: I had the chance to experiment with different kinds of content. I included a "behind the business" message that I hadn't planned on continuing after launch, but it was so popular that I still include that section in the newsletter today.

I hope this gave you a few ideas for growing your own email list in the early days!

Discuss this story.

🐦 The Tweetmaster's Pick

by Tweetmaster Flex

I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:

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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Armando Flesler, Priyanka Vazirani, Matt Visiwig, Aytekin Tank, and Alexis Grant for contributing posts. —Channing